The invention relates to a method and to a machine for tranferring metered quantities of flowable material (such as yoghurt, jam, marmalade, honey or other pasty substances) from a source into discrete receptacles, e.g., into cups or jars.
It is already known to provide a metering machine with a hollow rotary metering device which accepts a predetermined quantity of viscous material in one of its angular positions and delivers such quantity to a receptacle in a second angular position. The interior of the metering device is automatically sealed from the source of viscous material as a result of rotation of the metering device from its first position, and such interior is automatically sealed from the outlet of the machine when the metering device leaves its second position. The metering device must be a tight fit in the housing of the machine in order to reduce the likelihood of wobbling and particularly the likelihood of penetration of flowable material between the housing and the metering device. As a rule, or in many instances, the material is fed into the metering device at an elevated pressure so that it invariably penetrates between the metering device and the adjacent parts of the machine. This creates problems when the material contains softer (less viscous) and harder ingredients, such as yoghurt and pieces of fruit therein, because the harder ingredients cannot be readily removed from narrow gaps between the parts of the machine. This entails pronounced contamination of the machine, especially of the metering device, and the need for extensive and long-lasting cleaning after each use and particularly prior to admission of a different flowable material into the machine. This results in undesirable reduction of the output due to the length of periods of idleness for dismantling, cleaning and reassembly of component parts.